Map Editor Manual


****You MUST read this before using the map editor! There are necessary instructions for 
placing trees, water, etc. If you don't follow them, you'll waste A LOT of your time!! 
Also, we will not be updating this map editor anytime soon, so it is as it is. It has never 
crashed for me, as of yet(and I have used it to make what you see in the game so far). 
So there should be no problems with it other than your suggestions to make it better 
(which as I said, it will not be updated by us as we do not have the time).


Forewarning:

This program works only on Windows, sorry Linux users.
It requires windows because I am too lazy to make a portable file open/save GUI, and I
don't know how to do that under Linux. If you guys know how to do it, in C (not C++), then
let me know.

The Map Editor is kind of bulky. That is, it doesn't have too much GUI, and there might be some
bugs left over. I aimed at making it functional, not cute.

This manual will also be minimal, if anyone wants to write a better doc (maybe some HTML, with
images), then please do.

Do not change the shape of the window to unorthodox sizes, because you might get some nasty
artifacts. As opposed to the game client, the map editor was made that way so you can resize 
the window, but don't abuse it.

The maps should be in a top directory inside the directory you have the game.
That is, if your game directory is c:\el then the maps should be in c:\el\maps or 
c:\el\my_maps and NOT in c:\whatever or c:\el\my_maps\maps_backup .

Do _NOT_ modify the system maps. The system maps are stored in the /maps directory. If you 
modify those maps, Bad Things ™ will happen! If you want to play with them, make a copy first,
and play only with that copy. Preferably, put those copies in a new directory.

There is an annoying bug, which I tried to fix, but, apparently, it is a SDL problem(?).
That bug appears when you try to open a file, or save the map. Basically, whenever the windows
file save/open menu appears, after you do your stuff there, the next left button click will
be ignored, so you have to press it twice. After that, things will go back to normal, except 
for the fact that you can't close/minimize/maximize/resize the window. If you want to 
close/minimize/maximize the window, you have to get again the file open/save menu, and click 
Cancel. Yes, I know, it's UGLY, and if you know HOW can I solve that problem please tell me.

The coordinates used in EL are in meters. If you don't know the metric system, learn it. It is
the international standard, after all!
The smallest coordinate (for walkability) is 50 CM.

---------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------
Ok, let's start. **(quick keyboard guide at the bottom-but it's still necessary to 
read things before that)




As you can see in the menu, there are a few modes:

The first, is the ground tile mode.
The second is the 2D objects mode.
The 3rd is the 3D objects mode.
4th is the lights mode.
5th is the height map mode.
6th is the settings button.
7th is the "Select" object/tile/light/height under mouse.
8th is the clone object.
9th is the New object.
10th is the Kill button (duh).
11th is the Save Map.
12th is the Load Map.
13th is the New map.

I won't get into too many details, since this document is a manual, not a tutorial.
Basically, by clicking on a mode (1-5) that mode becomes the current mode, so all the things
you do (like add, clone, new, kill, an object) will only affect the objects in that mode.
That is, if your current mode is Tile mode, you can't add 3D objects, only tiles.
Right click on a mode icon, will make the layer corresponding to that mode dissapear, unless
it is the current mode, in which case it is still visible. 
For instance, if you're in 3D mode, and you need to see the height map,  just right click on 
the height map icon, and it will enable the height map. Right click on that mode again, and you
will disable it. You can also disable/enable the 3D/2D objects by the same means.


The Tile mode:
Each tile is 3meters(use this guide if you want to make 2D/3D objects)
First tile is the lake tile. Using it you will generate lakes. Keep in mind that lakes are lower
than the ground (25 cm).
The rest of the tiles are whatever they look like.
When you select the KILL action, and you KILL tiles, that sets them to the NULL tile.
The NULL tile won't be displayed, so it should be used in places where the ground is obscured 
by big objects, such as houses, mountains, etc. It is important to use that null tile whenever
possible, because it will make the game faster.
If you want to put down a lot of tiles quickly, then first select a tile you want to use, then 
go into the MiniMap mode(M), hold down the right mouse button, and then you can "draw" the 
tiles wherever you want them. It puts down 4 tiles with one click. 

In both the 2D and 3D mode, you can use the following keys:
CTRL + arrow keys rotate the object. 
Holding down the shift key will give you greater accuracy.
Insert/Delete rises, respectively lowers the object. For more accuracy, hold down shift.

The 3D objects can have some additional settings:
Pressing the 'B' key, while having a selected object, will make that object BLENDED with the
background. It uses an additive blending, so it looks kind of ugly, I might change it to some
other type of blending, in the future. My advice is NOT to use this option, at least not until
I say it is OK to. 
Pressing L will make the object be Self Lit. This is usually usefull for things such as light
sources. However, note that the Self Lit objects will NOT become self lit in the daytime, only
in the evening-night-morning.
With the number keys 1, 2, and 3 you can change (increase) the R, G and respectively B 
intensity of that self lit
object. Notice that, by default, rgb=0, so the object is very dark. By holding down ALT
while pressing 1,2 and 3, you DECREASE the intensity of that color.
Notice that no changes will be visible at day time, so make it night first. Night means around 
minute 0 or so.


LIGHTS:
The Lights can be only rised/lowered, with Ins/Del (keep shift pressed for accuracy).
Lights are represented as colored cubes. The lights are visible only at night, they are turned
off at daytime (except if the map is set as a Dungeon).
You can increase the lights intensity by pressing 1,2, and 3, and decrease it with Alt+1, 2 or 3.
The intensity range is from 0 to 5.
The range of each lights is 30 meters (a height tile is half a meter, a normal tile is 3 
meters). It is IMPORTANT that at any place in the game there won't be more than 7 visible lights
at a time. Otherwise, there will be some nasty artifacts.
Also, try to avoid as much as possible setting a light intensity over 3. That is, try NOT to
have any of the R G B components above 3.


HEIGHT MAP:

Basically, the height map has 2 purposes:
1. To not let players go through certain areas (like, say, going through a tree, house, rock,
water, etc.).
2. Provide an elevation map.
The elevation map is usefull when you want someone who walks on an object to be a little
displaced, from the ground. For example, when you walk over a bridge, if the elevation map is
left unchanged (the default is the ground value), then your feet will go inside the bridge,
which looks ugly.
The heights are in the range of -2.20 M to 4 M
-2.20 M is reserved for 'unwalkable'
All the rest can be used to specify how much you want the player to be displaced from the 
ground, while he/she/it is on that tile. The default height is 0 M. The heights increase
with 20 CM each step.
With Ins/Del you can navigate through all the heights.
Tab switches the 2d/3d display mode of the heights. By default, all the height tiles are 
displayed on the ground, the only indication of how tall they are is given by their color.
If you press TAB, you can display them in the 3D mode, so the height tiles will be displayed
at their real heights. This is usually usefull for bridges, rocks, etc.
You can put more than one tile down at a time, by holding down the alt(49 tiles), or 
ctrl(9 tiles) key. This is useful for big objects.
**Very important note- in this game, you can walk on diagonal tiles. So if you're making a 
fence, that you don't want someone to walk through, and the fence is set on tiles diagonally, 
you must make it so there are no "walkable height tile corners" touching each other!




Some necessary info on placing objects:

-TREES- rotate them to get as much a variety as possbile. And don't get too carried away 
with placing LOTS of trees with leaves, or plants near water, or in general. Why is this? 
Because the leaves have a transparency on them, and it makes the game slower, we don't want 
it to be too slow. So watch your FPS. Of course if you have a fast machine, then it will be 
no problem for you, but keep in mind the people that don't. 
Also...when placing the trees USE THE GRID!!!(G on the keyboard). You need this so that you 
can accurately place objects for the height map. For instance, with "tree1", this tree only 
takes up one tile on the grid. So you place it in the center of that tile. Otherwise if you 
just place them randomly, you'll have a lot of work later on when placing the height map, 
because you'll have to center the trees, etc. (I know it is, it happened to me, that's why 
using the grid is NECESSARY, unless you like to make more work for youself)


-2D EDGES, SPOTS of grass/dirt/etc (some 3D objects included)-You MUST alternate the height 
when you overlap the 2D/3D objects!!: grass edges, dirt, leaves, etc... or flickering will 
happen. They are by default at .00   Do not place them higher than .03, as it's really not 
needed (Do this by holding down the shift key+Ins or Del to move the objects up and down with 
one cm increments)


-WATEREDGES-when you put the water edges in place, they must be .23 below ground level. 
Except for "wateredge1.e3d" which you should put at .24  (just use the delete key to make 
them go to .20, then shift+delete to get that accurate .23cm level).
Also, at times a few edges might not line up properly. You can just place a rock, or some 
tall grass over the area to conceal it. But try to make them line up as good as possible. 
We don't want to see 3 million rocks all over the edges. 


-ROADS- must be placed .01 or .02 above ground. Alternate when you overlap them, or 
flickering will happen.


-HEDGEMAZE-if you want to make a maze, you MUST place the hedge .01 above 
ground(just one step), or there will be some nasty flickering when you turn the camera slowly.


**To see "flickering" between objects on the map, just rotate the camera slowly 
by holding the shift key as you rotate. Or, when you have an object selected (for instance a 
road), you can move it with your mouse over other roads, and if you see weird flickering, that 
means it's at the same height as the other road(and you have to make it 1cm lower, or higher 
to not have the flickering).







---QUICK KEY GUIDE--------------------------------------------------

Global keys:
**These keys are CASE SENSITIVE- so make sure you have your caps OFF!

Escape - quits the program, no confirmation, no save.
Alt+s -turns the shadows on/off. Default is off.
F1 -increases the time of the day with one minute.
F2 -decreases it.
Arrow keys -move the camera.
Home/End -rotate the camera. 
Shift+ home/end -rotates the camera more slowly for greater accuracy.
g  -turns a grid on/off. 
Right click a "mode" -disables/enables that mode.
m -minimap mode. Press m, then just left click to take yourself to any spot on the map you want.

3D/2D object keys:

ctrl+arrow keys -rotate the object
ins/delete  -move the object up/down by 10cm
shift+ins/delete- move the object up/down by 1cm(for more accuracy)
right click- when you have an object selected, right clicking will delete it

Light keys:

ins/delete-(same as functions as mentioned above)
1, 2, 3 -increase RGB values
alt+ 1/2/3 -decrease RGB values

Height Map keys:

Tab-shows the Height in "3d" mode
ctrl- puts down 9 squares instead of one.(while you have a square selected)
alt- puts down 49 squares

Tile mode keys:
*you CANNOT rotate, or adjust the height of a tile

Putting many tiles down at once: first, select a tile you want to put down. Then, 
without deselecting that tile, go into the minimap mode. Then hold down the right mouse 
button, and you can "draw" the tiles. It puts down 4 tiles at a time.



***Hopefully, in the future, I will make a nice html doc/tutorial on this, with pictures 
that will make things much easier to understand. Or if anyone is willing to volunteer to 
do this it would be much appreciated! (just email me,  fflewddar@yahoo.com)
